September 11 – YouTube super-group the Sidemen raised more than £2.4 million in their charity football match on Saturday afternoon, selling out West Ham’s London Stadium in the process.
The Weekend’s hotly-anticipated matchup between Sidemen FC and the YouTube All-stars was the latest in a series of charity events between the two sides, dating back to 2016. The Sidemen are widely regarded as the most popular content creator group in the country and are a staple in entertainment for young people across the UK.
All proceeds of the event will be donated to charities including suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), youth charity Teenage Cancer Trust and wish-granting charity, Rays of Sunshine.
Each team hosted some of the platform’s most famous faces such as musician/boxer and Prime hydration co-owner KSI, and Mr Beast, who has a record 182 million subscribers on the platform. The event took advantage of the international break to play at the London Stadium, in front of a 60,000-strong crowd.
The teams were formed to include a collection of the biggest names in the industry, as stars travelled from all over the planet to play their part in the charity event, which was a huge success.
Live streamed on YouTube free of charge, the match had over 2.5 million concurrent viewers from around the world, beating last year’s edition’s viewer count by the finest of margins.
Former Premier League official Mark Clattenberg, who refereed in the top-flight between 2004 and 2017, took charge of the showdown for the second year running. Clattenberg’s attempt to give entertainer Max Fosh a yellow card hilariously backfired after the YouTuber showed him an Uno reverse card in response.
Simon Minter, founding member of the Sidemen group and one of the lead organisers for the event, turned to Twitter (X) to thank fans, saying: “I honestly can’t put into words how yesterday felt, but we raised so much money and the day was immense. Thank you everyone.”
Fans can expect Sidemen FC action to make a return next September, as multiple hints have been made towards a renewal of the event.
The London Stadium returns to its regular Premier League action on September 16, as The Hammers host reigning champions Manchester City with the hopes of keeping their impressive opening form in-tact.
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